1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope apparatus and, more particularly, to an endoscope apparatus that has an endoscope in which a balloon is attached to a leading end of an insertion portion, and an insertion aid which guides the insertion portion of this endoscope into a body cavity.
2. Related Art
When the insertion portion of an endoscope is to be inserted into deep digestive organs such as the small intestine, force is not easily transmitted to the leading end of the insertion portion due to the complicated curvatures of the intestinal tract only by pushing in the insertion portion and hence insertion into deep parts is difficult. Therefore, there have been proposed endoscope apparatus that prevent extra curvatures and deflections of the insertion portion by inserting into a body cavity the insertion portion of an endoscope to which an insertion aid called an overtube or a sliding tube is attached and by guiding the insertion portion by use of this insertion aid (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 10-248794).
Also, there have been known conventional endoscope apparatus of the double-balloon type in which a first balloon is provided in the leading end portion of the insertion portion of an endoscope and a second balloon is provided in the leading end portion of an insertion aid (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-340462 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-301019).
In an endoscope apparatus of the double-balloon type, there is a case where the operation is such that the insertion portion and the insertion aid are inserted into the intestinal tract along a predetermined length and, with the first balloon and the second balloon inflated and kept fixed to the intestinal wall, the insertion portion and the insertion aid are simultaneously pulled toward the surgical operator, whereby the intestinal tract having been curved is caused to contract straight. After that, by repeatedly performing the insertion operation of the insertion portion, the insertion operation of the insertion aid and the above-described operation of pulling toward the surgical operator in this order, whereby the intestinal tract is pulled nearer and the insertion portion is inserted into an aimed part.